zacster

I just got an email about the 5BBT for 2022, which I believe will actually happen this year. The price though is the killer, $112. I always took one or two of my kids on it when they were young, but that starts getting expensive and I would hesitate at that price.

akbejeepin

UniChris

I was interested the first year I heard about it, but the crowding made it less and less appealing.

In effect, it's a victim of its own success.

And in this country the way we allocated limited resources is... pricing!

And yes, you can buy your way into the first wave start.

Maybe the next step is trying to evolve from such an insanely overloaded one-day event to a more sustained everyday (or at least everyweekend) bike volume.

dendawg

Once was enough for me

Dahon.Steve

Holy Cow! This event used to sell out in 5 days or less! I'm able to log on and buy a vest today and it's the end of February! Covid scared away thousands of cyclist for this tour and I don't blame them. You would think 5bbt would lower the price.

Seriously, you only tour Manhattan and spend the majority of time on highways! It barely touches the Bronx and Staten Island. You get the same tour by riding the bike lane on 6th Avenue.

BTinNYC 

Our version of flyover country 😉

kaos joe

At $112, the price is definitely the biggest obstacle for me. I wouldn't do it for less than $200.

zacster

I did the ride yesterday and while the ride was pretty well run, the ending was a clusterf*. From the time we stopped short of the finish line where you had to walk until we got on the ferry was 2 hours! The "festival" at the end was in the outlet mall and we didn't go. My daughter did the ride with her friends on the first wave though and got there early enough to enjoy it and said it was pretty good actually. She also was able to walk onto the ferry easily. Bike New York sent out an email and text explaining that they were overwhelmed with the turnout due to the weather being nice. But the setup at the end was just never going to work with a narrow corridor where you had to walk with your bike a long way in front of the mall to get to the festival and ferry. There are wider places along the way that are bottlenecks, why did they think they could get everyone through that narrow spot?

indyfabz

See? You never would have gotten a good test of the Brooks saddle.

zacster

That thing is going back!

BTinNYC 

Ouch.
In wave 4, but I rode alone, pushed a bit and didn't visit the after-thing so I walked right onto the ferry. Very glad I went, but in no rush to do it again. Really enjoyed the BQE and VZ Bridge.

joesch

I would love to ride it on one of my SS bikes
Wanting some pix and more info I found this https://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs...boro-bike-tour
which has a nice vid with footage and some nice interviews

TBlackwell600

Thanks for the info Zacster. I've heard the ride is an awesome biking experience that I'd like to do once... just gotta figure out the logistics of an overnight stay and, from what you've said, parking a vehicle near the end to avoid the ferry.

zacster

You'll want to park somewhere away from the finish line, even a few miles away. You'll have bikes after all to get back to the car.

streetstomper

FYI, I've kept a tip I found years ago that said the best way to avoid the wait for the ferry is to avoid the ferry. Instead, ride over the Bayonne Bridge, take the light rail to Exchange Place then take PATH back to Manhattan.